Fighting Rages in Ukraine as Russian Troops Claim City
Russian forces said they had captured a port on the Black Sea on Wednesday as Russian and Ukrainian troops battled for another city and Ukraine's leader said Moscow wanted to "erase" his country.
The Russian army said it had taken control of Kherson, as its troops advanced and pounded cities across southern and eastern Ukraine, defying sanctions and international isolation.
Russian paratroopers also landed in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, triggering clashes in the streets, Ukrainian forces said. The emergency services said four people were killed in the city on Wednesday and there was now "mass shelling and bombing" in the center.
On Wednesday, however, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russian forces were in now "full control" of Kherson, a city with a population of 290,000 people.
He said talks were under way between the Russian army and local authorities on maintaining order, protecting the population and keeping public services functioning.
Ukraine's army said there was a battle in the country's second city Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine near the Russian border with a population of 1.4 million.
"There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians," the army said on messaging app Telegram.
Ukrainian forces said Russian strikes hit a residential block and a government building in the city on Tuesday killing 18 people, drawing comparisons to the massacres of civilians in Sarajevo in the 1990s and condemnation for what Zelenskiy called a "war crime."
As the civilian death toll mounts, there is growing opposition to the conflict within Russia, with thousands detained for taking part in anti-war protests. "I am urging everyone to take to the streets and fight for peace," jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said in a statement posted on Facebook. He called on Russians not to be afraid of going to prison. "Everything has a price and now, in the spring of 2022, we should pay that price."
In the latest development, the EU banned broadcasts of Russian state media RT and Sputnik and excluded seven Russian banks from the global SWIFT bank messaging system.
The list did not name two major Russian banks, Sberbank and Gazprombank, which were left connected to SWIFT to allow EU countries to pay for Russian gas and oil deliveries.
Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, said Wednesday it was leaving the European market after coming under pressure from Western sanctions.
Apple, Boeing, Disney, ExxonMobil and Mastercard announced Tuesday in rapid succession steps to withdraw or freeze business in Russia.
German logistics giant DHL joined them on Wednesday, saying it would stop deliveries to Russia and Belarus, which has allowed the passage of Russian troops to attack Ukraine.
"Going forward, Russia will be a pariah, and it's hard to see how they can restore anything resembling normal interactions in the international system," said Sarah Kreps, professor at Cornell University.
Aluminium and gas prices hit record highs on supply fears and the Moscow Stock Exchange failed to open for a third day running.
In an important strategic victory, Russian troops attacking from the Crimean peninsula said they had linked up along the Azov Sea coast with pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. The city of Mariupol was reportedly encircled. U.S. satellite images show that Russia has massed artillery and armored cars near Kyiv, raising fears of an imminent assault.
www.themoscowtimes.com
thehill.com
www.newsmax.com
www.rawstory.com
